A person"s temperament and abilities are inseparable from his growth trajectory.
In October 1990, at a shooting range outside Qinzhou City, a young woman was about to be executed for violent smuggling and killing a criminal police officer. Facing the eyes of the executing Armed Police Warrior with regret, she had a calm demeanor, a cold expression, an indifferent gaze, and no regret at all.
The moment she was about to execute it, she suddenly vomited.
The sour water saved her life.
A young lawyer from the Public Prosecutor"s Office rushed forward regardless of the risk and promptly stopped the execution. After a doctor"s examination, she was pregnant. Exemption from the death penalty by law.
Seven months later, the woman gave birth to a premature baby in prison. She weighed only three and a half kilograms. At birth, she was unable to breathe, and she cried and laughed silently. It seemed that she could die at any moment. Only his eyes were shining, staring fiercely at his mother"s unfulfilled chest like a hungry wolf. His throat emitted a hoa.r.s.e babbling sound, as if he was crying, but not a single tear. The woman named Yu Shaofen named the child Gu Tianyou. The woman"s surname was Yu, and the child"s surname was Gu. She didn"t tell anyone.
Prisons are places where people are reformed, and the conditions of the proletarian melting pot are limited. Without relatives to visit, even in the moons, women can only eat cabbage, but milk. The water is enough to eat gra.s.s milking cow.
His name was Heaven"s Blessing. As expected, the heavens blessed him. This thin and weak little creature stubbornly survived.
The people in prison were all of the same religion. On that day, some divine staff members heard this and predicted that this child would cry hoa.r.s.ely without tears, and his life would be like weeds. He would definitely harm his closest relatives.
Sure enough, Gu Tianyou had a severe postpartum depression from the moment she was born, and she was able to survive by relying solely on her beliefs. When Xiao Tianyou was three years old, the woman finally died. He closed his eyes and took away all the secrets. Leaving behind a three-year-old boy, no one cared about him like weeds.
Whether it was the armed police officers in charge of guarding or the prison guards in charge of daily management, they did not know what to do with this child. He Weiran , the political commissar of the prison, was a veteran who had been to the southern battlefield and had high prestige. He told the other prison guards at the meeting, "This child is destined for the prison. There are no parents or relatives. Where do you think we should throw him back to the city? The children thrown on the streets don"t care about the Civil Affairs Bureau. Besides, let him stay here first."
With that, Gu Tianyou was left behind.
A three-year-old boy survives in this complex environment filled with crime and evil. A single sentence is not enough.
The prison was built in the late Qing Dynasty to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In more than a hundred years, countless rules had been acc.u.mulated that were not visible on paper but were dense and unbreakable.
Where there were people, there were Jianghu. Of course, there were Jianghu in prison. There were rules in Jianghu and big shots who knew the rules.
Qinzhou Prison was a large prison. It was divided into two districts, men"s and women"s. The men"s districts were divided into four courtyards, north, south, east, west, and north. Each courtyard had a big shot. Each of them stood out after a long period of imprisonment. He Weiran "s words left this child behind, but if the prisoners didn"t want this child to live here, even if Gu Tianyou had the blessing of the heavens, he wouldn"t be able to live well.
For this matter, He Weiran specifically found Lord Long .
Lord Long was not a big shot in any of the four courtyards in the Men"s Prison District.
He was a big shot in the entire prison ecosystem, including He Weiran and all the prison guards.
He had lived in the sole secret cell in prison for countless years, and no one knew exactly how old he was.
The oldest of the prison guards was Old Guan, 52, who had come to work at the age of 20. At that time, Lord Long had already moved into the special cell that was used to imprison certain high-ranking prisoners and was not suitable for ordinary inmates. In other words, this old man had been imprisoned here for at least 32 years.
The Chinese nation has the custom of respecting the old and caring for the young, but it is not enough to form such preferential treatment in the prison, which lacks restraint and is more natural than the outside world.
There were two reasons why Lord Long could become the most special person in this place.
First of all, everyone believed that Lord Long had unimaginable power outside this high wall.
Thirty-two years later, Old Guan did not know what kind of person Lord Long was back then, and how glorious his past was. However, this did not affect his judgement of Lord Long in the slightest. During these 32 years, every New Year"s Day, several old generals with two or more golden stars on their shoulders and grey hair would come to the cell. Some of them respectfully walked into the cell, some seriously, some with tears streaming down their cheeks, and some even greeted an old general with three stars on his shoulders.
What kind of friendship can have a shelf life of thirty to forty years?
How could a person not be admired by all the people in the prison if he lived to this point?
Prison is a complicated environment, so not everyone recognizes Lord Long"s authority, such as some fugitives who have no hope of leaving. These people were all arrogant and arrogant people. Because they had no hope of leaving, they were less fearful. When they made a ruckus, they would often recklessly ignore the consequences. In order to stabilize the situation in prison, they usually coaxed such prisoners and even gave them some small privileges. This type of prisoner didn"t care how powerful Lord Long was outside. They only admitted to people who were tougher than their fists.
At the top of the prisoner"s food chain are those who commit violent crimes, dare to hurt people, and have outstanding abilities in this regard.
Grandpa Long"s fist was hard enough.
Although the old man was old, he was still strong, and his muscles were as strong as a young man"s.
There was always a rumor in the prison about Lord Long"s combat strength.
Once upon a time, there was an unstinting fugitive who relied on his brute force to overthrow Lord Long. It was said that when this person first entered, he was unwilling to take water and soil. The seven inmates in the same cell were stunned and did not hold him down. Instead, they were beaten until their noses were blue and their faces were swollen by him. The old guard beat him up with a triangle and threw him in the trumpet for a week at the end of the day.
The trumpet was a nightmare for most prisoners. That d.a.m.ned place was lying down, unable to stretch its legs, unable to stand up, unable to stand upright, and most people would not be able to withstand it for a day if they stayed in it. And that person didn"t admit defeat even after seven days. The warden let him out because he was afraid that something would happen.
After this fellow was released, he was not convinced. After three full meals, he was alive again. He still disobeyed the rules like a living donkey. The guards took care of this guy a few more times, but the result was the same every time. In the end, he had no choice but to change his strategy and adopt Huairou"s method to make this fellow a big shot among the prisoners of the Eastern Campus.
This fellow didn"t stay calm for a few days, and very quickly wanted to challenge Lord Long"s authority. When the guards heard the news, they intended to stop him. But Grandpa Long said that it had been many years since he had the chance to stretch his muscles and bones. Give him a chance. So one day at noon, when everyone was eating in the cafeteria, the armed policeman who was guarding the cafeteria suddenly had diarrhea. It was rare for the management cadres not to eat in the cafeteria. That person came to Lord Long"s table.
At that time, Lord Long held the bowl with one hand and said to that person, "Little brat, see this bowl of rice in my hand. Do it now, I will eat it now. If you can still stand after this bowl of rice is eaten, I will allow you to swing horizontally in the future. Moreover, as long as a grain of rice falls out of my bowl, even if I knock you down, it will be considered as my loss!"
That person didn"t like nonsense and raised his hand to punch. It was said that Grandpa Long did not even dodge and lowered his head to hit that fellow"s fist, knocking that fellow to the ground in an instant. Grandpa Long walked over with the bowl and stepped on the guy"s chest. That guy struggled desperately, but he didn"t struggle until Grandpa Long finished his bowl of food.
This rumor has a long history. It has been countless years since that incident happened. The more it pa.s.sed through the G.o.ds, the more blurry it became. When it reached Tianyou"s ears, the crowd no longer knew that this person was Gao w.a.n.kun, the boss of the Eastern Campus.
He Weiran led Gu Tianyou to find Lord Long and said, "This child"s mother is dead. It"s inappropriate to place her in the women"s section. He is not a prisoner, and he is so young …"
He hadn"t finished speaking, but Lord Long already understood what he meant.
The old man waved his hand and interrupted him. He touched the top of Xiao Tianyou"s head and said, He sighed and said, "This d.a.m.n place is not the place for children to stay, but you"re right. The children on the streets outside are left unattended. It"s better to let him stay here. Although this kid is dry, he has a bit of tenacity on him. He"s as tough as me. If he wants to be raised by others, then let me take care of him."
With another sentence, Gu Tianyou had a way to survive.
Life is like a tree, whether it grows in the fertile and sunny jungle, or takes root on steep cliffs, as long as there is strong enough will, there is a chance to grow into a tree with luxuriant branches and leaves. Comparatively speaking, the prison was naturally that precipitous cliff, and the small trees that could take root and sprout here were naturally blessed by the heavens. However, this kind of favor may not be all good. Prisons are like cliffs, and if you take a wrong step, you will fall.
Gu Tianyou"s childhood ended the moment Yu Shaofen died.
The old saying that three years old means that children of this age have already revealed their nature. What was Gu Tianyou"s nature like? Lord Long"s words were most aptly summed up: as quiet as a virgin, as moving as a rabbit.
The three-year-old Tianyou was left in prison. Society was like a sinister monster that could not tolerate naive dirt, but this place had become a paradise where Tianyou grew up.
Prison is a strict place. Here, ranging from commissar He Weiran , warden Liu Heilian, squadron leader Wan Baoquan, to the newly incarcerated prisoners, they all lived in a lifestyle that was customary and obedient. However, under Lord Long"s protection, Gu Tianyou didn"t have many rules to abide by, except for Lord Long"s.
Grandpa Long was an old soldier. His supervision rules were military rules, strictly enforced and meticulous, even if the target was only a few years old.
No crying, get up on time, go to bed on time, keep clean, almost every word and deed according to the best soldier standards. If you can"t do it, you"ll be punished. Of course, Gu Tianyou couldn"t do it, so he naturally couldn"t escape punishment. He tried to resist, but Lord Long"s belt was not a vegetarian. After a long time, Heaven bless gradually came to a conclusion. As long as he did well according to Lord Long"s request, Lord Long"s reward was as clear as his punishment.
When Tian You performed well, he would not hesitate to reward and praise him. However, his reward was never a candy toy. He would usually happily touch Tian You"s head and then point at the wine cup on the table and say in a rough voice, "Drink, this is a reward for you!" Lord Long"s words were orders and could not be rejected. Tian You pinched his nose and endured the spicy drinks. He waved his hand and said, "Go out and play. Remember to come back on time. Don"t learn to smoke from others."
After all, the conditions of the prison were limited, so it was impossible for Lord Long to completely copy the military"s training methods to train Heaven"s Blessing. Moreover, the old man did not intend to spend all of his time disciplining Heaven"s Blessing. Therefore, after going through the first and most difficult months of adaptation, Tianyou quickly came to a conclusion about the rules of getting along with Lord Long.
In the daytime, after Gu Tianyou completed the task a.s.signed by Lord Long, he would stumble around the courtyards of various prison districts for the rest of the day, listening to the prisoners bragging about their so-called heroic deeds and anecdotes in Jianghu. At night, he returned to Lord Long"s special cell on time, strictly following the old man"s instructions, washing up, training, and falling asleep. He was meticulous and orderly.
There were only a few requests from the old man, and the hardest thing for Heaven"s Blessing to adapt to was eating. Whenever he eats, he tries his best to escape. Although they could occasionally go to prisoners" cafeterias or sneak into the cafeterias guarding the squadron. However, most of the time, the old man would force him to eat those uncooked medicinal foods that were said to nourish tendons and strengthen bones.
Lord Long said, your bones weren"t bad, but it"s a pity that you were born in the wrong place. The first year of life is the crucial period for a person to grow up. Malnutrition delayed you the day after tomorrow. That"s why you"re so thin and weak, so you have to make up for it. The old man was right, prescribing all the ingredients in one go, and with He Weiran "s cooperation, the smelly medicinal meals became a compulsory course for Heaven"s Blessing. This meal lasted five years.
Gu Tianyou was eight years old. If he was outside, he would have already carried his schoolbag.
Under Lord Long"s guidance, Tian You was already a little boy who walked like the wind, sat down like a bell, stood like a pine tree, and looked thin, but not weak. Her eyes were full of agility, her nose was straight and her mouth was square, her lips were red and her teeth were white, and she was pretty and cute. Of course, it was a good thing for a child to grow up like this, but in this place, it became a great burden for Heaven"s Blessing as he grew up.
Qinzhou Prison is one of the top ten prisons in the country. There are thousands of criminals detained in the high walls, and the majority of them are felons. Some said that the forest was big and there were all kinds of birds. There were thousands of criminals of all sorts in this d.a.m.ned place. It was inevitable that one or two perverted and perverted people would turn their attention to Heaven"s Blessing. He hid his dirty thoughts in the shadows and waited for the right time.
As the child grew older, Grandpa Long grew older. Seeing Little Tianyou grow and become more and more curious about the outside world, Grandpa Long began to think about finding a teacher for Tianyou.
The structure of the prison population is complex, and in some cases it may be described as a pool of talents. If Lord Long wanted to find a teacher for Tianyou, he naturally had to find the best person.